Hallberg Rassy 26...

[emmanoss]

Dear Sirs,
I am about to buy a new boat (my first ever),
a HR 26.
My question is how can I be sure about the age of the boat.
Is there any form connecting serial n. with date?
My other (and only) nightmare is called: osmosis.
With my allmost zero sailling experience, is there a way without
insturments and mesurments to tell if a hull is effected or not?
Thaks for your attention.

[sailingdog]

I’m a bit confused. You say you're going to be buying a new boat, yet Hallberg-Rassy doesn't make a 26' at this point in time. From their website:

The HR 26 was built during 1978 - 1985. A total of 469 hulls were built.

So if you were told that this is a new boat, it is at least 23 years old... which I wouldn't really consider NEW. This is a used boat, if it is an HR 26.

The HIN number, which should be located on the starboard side of the transom, as well as someplace inside the boat will tell you what year it is. You can read more about HINs HERE.

As such, I would highly recommend you read the Boat Inspection Trip Tips thread, to help you understand what to look at and for while inspecting the boat to see if it is even worth surveying.

Given your lack of experience, you should probably try and go see the boat with a more experienced friend, who knows a bit more about boats and their construction.

As for osmosis, unless it is visibly blistered, there is no way to tell that you have a problem, without using a moisture meter. The use of a moisture meter is covered in this thread.

I'd also highly recommend you read the POST in my signature, to help you get the most out of your time on sailnet.

Welcome to the asylum, and keep us posted. If you have more questions, please ask away.

[emmanoss]

Forgive my English but when I wrote new, I ment new for me.....

[Giulietta]

Emm..great boats...I doubt you will find osmosis on it..HR uses only the best materials

[blt2ski]

emm,

not sure what part of the world you are in, but here in the US, we have folks called surveyors they will look over the boat and give you a pretty good feel for issues that may exist. A boat of this size a survey may cost you $300-500US. You can also get oil samples of the motor sent off to verify that there is not high counts of some metals, ie bearing might be wearing etc. A surveyor also has or access to a moisture meter to give his best guess of moisture in the hull. You will need to pull the boat out onto a hoist of some sort to check for osmosis, or blisters and moisture in the hull.

But as Alex/Giuletta has mentioned, HR's are generally speaking a higher quality built boat than some.

Enjoy your new boat to you! Also, no worries about english skills, even some of us that speak english as a first language are not that good at it! There is also more than one person on here that said "new boat" most of us realize a new boat to them, not a "NEW" boat.

Marty

[emmanoss]

Marty,
I'll do my best.
Thanks anyway

[emmanoss]

Originally Posted by Giulietta

Emm..great boats...I doubt you will find osmosis on it..HR uses only the best materials

that's encouraging, thanks!

[SVAuspicious]

emmanoss,

Where are you in the world? Check the Hallberg-Rassy website for the nearest broker. The company and by extension the brokers are often aware of the history of their boats and may be able to help. They may also be able to point you to a technically knowledgeable owner nearby who can help you figure out what you should be looking for on various older HRs. There is a very active group of owners on Yahoo and a reasonably active forum associated with the owner's organization in the UK.

I'd be happy to connect you to the most appropriate resources if you tell me where you are.

sail fast, dave
S/V Auspicious
HR-40 #68

[emmanoss]

I am in Greece.
This technical knowledge is what i am missing but I am working on it!!
Any connection with appropriate resources will be helpfull...
THank you for your help....and have a nice day.